The Rockaway Boulevard station is a station on the IND Fulton Street Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of

Rockaway Boulevard Rockaway Boulevard is a major road in the New York City borough of Queens. Unlike the similarly named Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Rockaway Freeway, it serves mainland Queens and does not enter the Rockaways. Route description It begins as an u ...

Woodhaven and Cross Bay Boulevards Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard (formerly Jamaica Bay Boulevard) are two parts of a major boulevard in the New York City borough of Queens. Woodhaven Boulevard runs roughly north–south in the central portion of Queens. South o ...

, and Liberty Avenue in

Ozone Park, Queens Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts W ...

, it is served by the A train at all times and the

Rockaway Park Shuttle The Rockaway Park Shuttle is a New York City Subway shuttle train that operates in Queens. It connects with the train at Broad Channel station and is the latest iteration of the Rockaway Shuttle services that have been running on the Rockaway ...

on summer weekends.

History

Rockaway Boulevard was one of the six stations along Liberty Avenue in Queens, from 80th Street through Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard, as well as the current three track elevated structure, built for the

BMT Fulton Street Line The Fulton Street Line, also called the Fulton Street Elevated or Kings County Line, was an elevated rail line mostly in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It ran above Fulton Street from Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn in Downtown Brooklyn east ...

in 1915 as part of BMT's portion of the

Dual Contracts The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the Interborough Ra ...

. On April 8, 1928, two eastbound trains crashed in the station, killing one person and injuring 30. The connection to the BMT was severed on April 26, 1956, and the IND was extended east (railroad south) from Euclid Avenue via a connecting tunnel and new intermediate station at

Grant Avenue Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, is one of the oldest streets in the city's Chinatown district. It runs in a north–south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Francisco Street in the North ...

, with the new service beginning on April 29, 1956. Two months later, a connection to the

IND Rockaway Line The IND Rockaway Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, operating in Queens. It branches from the IND Fulton Street Line at Rockaway Boulevard, extending over the Jamaica Bay, into the Rockaways. The ...

was provided on June 26, 1956, replacing the Long Island Rail Road's long-troubled

Rockaway Beach Branch The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park heading south via Ozone Park and across Jamaica ...

. The station was completely renovated in 2015. In 2019, as part of an initiative to increase the accessibility of the New York City Subway system, the MTA announced that it would install elevators at the Rockaway Boulevard station as part of the MTA's 2020–2024 Capital Program. In November 2022, the MTA announced that it would award a $965 million contract for the installation of 21 elevators across eight stations, including Rockaway Bouelvard. A joint venture of ASTM and Halmar International would construct the elevators under a public-private partnership.

Station layout

Rockaway Boulevard IND Fulton Line tracks & platform

This station has two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...

s and three tracks. The center track is not used in revenue service. The platforms have beige windscreens and green and brown canopies. This is the outermost station from

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

that is shared by all A train branches. Just past the east end of the platforms, the line splits into two routes. Trains heading to

Lefferts Boulevard Lefferts Boulevard is a major north–south thoroughfare in Queens, New York City, running through the communities of Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, and South Ozone Park. Its northern end is at Kew Gardens Road, in Kew Gardens, and its southern end i ...

continue east along Liberty Avenue, while those heading to the Rockaways diverge south to bypass Aqueduct Racetrack on an

embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

before lowering to run at-grade towards

Conduit Avenue Conduit Avenue (Conduit Boulevard in Brooklyn) is an arterial road in New York City, the vast majority of which is in Queens. The divided highway runs from Atlantic Avenue in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn to Hook Creek Boulevard in Rosedale, Quee ...

Howard Beach Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 1 ...

, Jamaica Bay,

Broad Channel Broad Channel is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It occupies the southern portion of Rulers Bar Hassock (known colloquially as "Broad Channel Island"), the only inhabited island in Jamaica Bay. Th ...

, and then the Rockaways.

Exits

This station has two station-houses with the full-time one at the west ( railroad north) end. Single staircases from each platform go down to the elevated station-house beneath the tracks. Inside are a

turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a ...

bank and token booth. Outside of

fare control In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station or metro station, accessible via turnstiles or other barriers, to get into which, visitors or passengers require a valid ticket, checked smartcard or a pass. A sys ...

, two staircases lead to either side of Liberty Avenue at Woodhaven/Cross Bay Boulevard. The other station-house at the east (railroad south) end is also elevated and beneath the tracks, but unstaffed. It contains two

HEET turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a ...

s, a staircase to each platform, and two staircases to either side of Liberty Avenue at 96th Street. The wooden staircase landings have a high exit-only turnstile to allow passengers to exit the system without having to go through the station.

References

External links

* * Station Reporter �
A Lefferts
* Station Reporter �

* The Subway Nut �
Rockaway Boulevard Pictures

94th Street/Rockaway Boulevard entrance from Google Maps Street View

96th Street/Cross Bay Boulevard — Woodhaven Boulevard entrance from Google Maps Street View

Platforms from Google Maps Street View
{{NYCS stations navbox by line, fulton=yes IND Fulton Street Line stations BMT Fulton Street Line stations New York City Subway stations in Queens, New York New York City Subway stations located aboveground Railway stations in the United States opened in 1915 1917 establishments in New York City 1915 establishments in New York City Ozone Park, Queens